Canon M5 vs Sony A6300 – Which is better?

Sony as always has been tearing up the scene with a whole array of new cameras across all sensors, but they’ve blown open the APS-C market with the A6300 and A6500.

While the A6500 is in most ways a direct improvement on the A6300, it does cost a few hundred dollars more, taking it slightly out of the way as a direct competitor to the Canon M5.

Both cameras are supported by equally intriguing ecosystems, and we’ll take a look into which one is the better buy for photographers with the same amount of cash to spend.

Canon M5

Sony A6300

Price (USD)

$ 779.00

$ 769.00

Sensor

24.2MP CMOS APS-C

24.2MP CMOS APS-C

Crop Factor

1.6x

1.5x

ISO

100-25600

100-25600 (expandable to 51200)

Image Quality

JPEG (EXIF 2.3), .CR2 14-bit RAW, RAW+JPEG

JPEG (EXIF 2.3), RAW (14-bit compressed ARW 2.3), RAW+JPEG

Video

1080p @ 60 fps

4K @ 30fps

Continuous Burst

9 fps

11 fps

Autofocus

Dual Pixel CMOS AF

Hybrid: 169 Points Contrast-detection, 425 Points Phase-detection

For still photography there shouldn’t be much of a difference between the two cameras. Both have almost exactly the same resolution, ISO performance, and type of sensor, although the A6300 offers far better video.

While the Canon M5 can only go up to 1080p at 60fps, the Sony A6300 can hit up to 4K at 30fps, even though it has well documented problems with rolling shutter. Even the A6500 upgrade has been said to have the same issues with rolling shutter, meaning that while both cameras will provide the resolution, movement is a far bigger consideration.

The A6300 and A6500 should probably not be used as complete video systems therefore, but work well for high quality B roll. The Canon M5 might be better for handheld work like vlogging, even though the A6300 is also compact enough for that task.

Canon M5

Sony A6300

Weight

427g

404g

Battery Life

295 shots

400 shots

LCD

Articulating 3.2″ 922k dot Screen

Articulating 3.0″ 1.620k dot Screen

Weather Sealing

WiFi

Microphone Port

In-body Stablisation

Touchscreen

For a while now Sony has been constantly innovating the technology inside their cameras, but their ergonomic designs have been relatively stagnant.

This has in some ways isolated new shooters, although enthusiasts and professionals have little to complain about. Canon seem to take a completely opposite approach to designing their mirrorless cameras, which seem to be firmly designated as entry-level cameras in their line-up.

Canon has always wanted a distinguished line in their portfolio, with professional DSLRs, semi-professional DSLRs, enthusiast DSLRs, entry-level DSLRs, and mirrorless cameras, which they don’t consider professional at all.

This has cost them a huge market currently occupied mainly by Sony – although at this price point, both cameras are quite advanced.

The A6300 has better weather sealing and has 4K, which gives it huge bonus points for more advanced users. However, the Canon is equally as good for stills, and has far better ergonomics. It has a touchscreen, and as we’ve covered before – the touchscreen combination with autofocus is extremely intuitive.

To conclude, even though these two cameras have very similar specs, they have two distinct markets. Both fulfill their basic job of being digital cameras with good still capability quite well. However, in terms of video the A6300 is clearly better, while the Canon M5 for us gets the nudge in terms of user-friendliness.